Selectmen split on Primary Building strategy

The board of selectmen is divided on how to utilize the still unfinished Primary Building. Selectmen Skip Clark and Sheila Dibb hope to lease the building to the United States Department of Agriculture, while Chairman Donald D'Auteuil says the space needs to be used for town departments.

"I for one will not vote to let the USDA rent that building," D'Auteuil said. "I think that the departments and boards in this town need the space. They can't operate in these little rooms forever."

Dibb, who has been courting the USDA to come to Rutland, was surprised by D'Auteuil's statement.

"I can't believe you'd be against this before knowing how the town could possibly benefit. To get a marquee tenant like the USDA in here on a 15-year lease, that would be huge. It could be an amazing windfall for our town, and not just financially," Dibb said.

Connecticut-based project designer Jim DiNoia, whom the selectmen met with earlier this month, returned an estimate of approximately $18,500 to professionally design the layout of the building. Chairman D'Auteuil came out against buying the design plans, calling the notion "ludicrous."

"We haven't even decided if we're going to move people over there yet. I can't see us designing the whole building without us knowing who's going to be there," he said.

Selectman Joseph Becker disagreed, saying that professional planning was needed and "should have been the first step taken" in the project.

"What I think is ludicrous is that we've spent a half-million dollars on this building, and I have no clear idea where that money went. I've looked at the bills and I'm concerned we're putting money into this building without knowing what our endgame is," Becker said.

Becker also listed a number of building specifications, such as emergency exits and lighting, that he said DiNoia's design would include. "This is why we need a formal plan. We haven't even looked at a lot of this stuff. I don't know how we can think about opening a public building without knowing these things," he said.

Dibb also supported the design work. "This should have been our first step, unfortunately it's our eight or ninth. Yes it costs money, but look at the money we've already spent. This needs to be done," she said.

The board voted on two motions regarding the building. The first, whether to delay action on the design plans for one month until the USDA got back to the town, failed three to two. Selectmen Douglas Briggs, D'Auteuil, and Dibb voted nay, with Becker and Clark voting in favor.

The second motion, whether to advertise the design job in accordance with state law, passed unanimously.